STATUS OF IMPLEMENTATION OF OBLIGATIONS UNDER UNCCD

1. STATUS OF IMPLEMENTATION OF OBLIGATIONS UNDER UNCCD BY: VARNEY L. CONNEH NATIONAL FOCAL POINT, UNCCD GEF NATIONAL DIALOGUE INITIATIVE (NDI) & NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL FORUM (NEF) CAPE HOTEL, MAMBA POINT THURSDAY NOVEMBER 20, 2008 MONROVIA, LIBERIA

2. Background The international community has long recognized that desertification is a major economic, social and environmental problem of concern to many countries in all regions of the world. In 1977, the United Nations Conference on Desertification (UNCOD) adopted a Plan of Action to Combat Desertification (PACD). Unfortunately, despite this and other efforts, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) concluded in 1991 that the problem of land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas had intensified, although there were "local examples of success".

3. Background Cont. As a result, the question of how to tackle desertification was still a major concern for the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), which was held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. The Conference supported a new, integrated approach to the problem, emphasizing action to promote sustainable development at the community level. It also called on the United Nations General Assembly to establish an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INCD) to prepare, by June 1994, a Convention to Combat Desertification, particularly in Africa. In December 1992, the General Assembly agreed and adopted resolution 47/188.

4. Background Cont. Working to a tight schedule, the Committee completed its negotiations in five sessions. The Convention was adopted in Paris on 17 June 1994 and opened for signature there on 14-15 October 1994. It entered into force on 26 December 1996, 90 days after the fiftieth ratification was received. Over 179 countries were Parties as of March 2002. The Conference of the Parties (COP), which is the Convention's supreme governing body, held its first session in October 1997 in Rome, Italy. Liberia ratified the Convention on March 3, 1998.

5. Liberia and Desertification About two decades after the first extensive forest inventory, a forest resources survey funded by FAO and FDA was carried out in 1985, put the forest cover of Liberia at about 49.8% of the land area. Annual deforestation rate was then estimated at about 0.5%. By 1998 annual deforestation was estimated at 1%. Recent estimates by World Resources Institute (2004) put the rate at about 2%.

6. Liberia and Desertification Cont. The extent of forest cover removal does not match replacement. Up to about 480,000 acres (192,000 hectares) of forestland is lost annually due to logging, shifting cultivation and other activities, while government has replanted less than 27,000 acres (10,927 hectares) since the inception of its reforestation program in 1971.

7. Liberia and Desertification Cont. Impacts of drought and desertification are still minimal. However, increase in commercial logging, increased arbitrary felling of trees for fuelwood and charcoal production, slash and burn agriculture, expanding industrial and artisanal mining, coupled with the creeping northern savannah and the extending derived and coastal savannahs are giving reasons for serious concerns.

8. Liberia and the LDCs/SIDs Portfolio Project The Government of Liberia through EPA requested by the letter of interest on July 28, 2005 to be part of the LDC/SIDS portfolio Project. Liberia is among countries that are yet to conclude their National Action Plans (NAP). With the adoption of Land Degradation as a new GEF Focal area, and the subsequent approval of the LDC-SIDS Portfolio Project by the GEF Assembly, Liberia is eligible to access GEF funding under the UNDP-GEF LDC-SIDS Portfolio Project for Capacity Building and Mainstreaming of Sustainable Land Management.

9. Liberia and the LDCs/SIDs Portfolio Project Cont. This project will help achieve the objectives of Operational Programme 15 and Strategic Priority 1 relating to Target Capacity Building for sustainable land management. With the GEF support Liberia will be able to strengthen its institutional and human resource capacity to improve sustainable land management planning and implementation. It will also enable Liberia to strengthen policy, regulatory and economic incentive frameworks to facilitate wider adoption of sustainable land management practices across sectors. The total project amount is US$ 960,000 from which US$ 475,000 is GEF contribution and US$ 485,000 co-financing.

10. Liberia and the LDCs/SIDs Portfolio Project Cont. Preparatory Fund type - A (PDF A) was approved 7, June 2006 by the UNDP – GEF totaling US$25,000.00 and was allocated to cover the costs of preparing a comprehensive, feasible and representative consultation among stakeholders to design a capacity building medium size project on sustainable land management that will contribute to the implementation of theUnited Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. The project started in mid June 2008 under the title: “Mainstreaming and Capacity-building For Sustainable Land Management in Liberia”, and is ongoing.

11. Liberia and the LDCs/SIDs Portfolio Project Cont. The main expected outcome of this preparatory phase (PDF-A) is the production of a comprehensive Medium Sized Project document (MSP) and to assist in the elaboration of the National Action Program (NAP) through a process of participatory planning and stakeholder consultation.

12. FINALLY I WISH TO RECOGNIZE MY UNCCD FOCAL POINT Predecessors:HON. ALBERT CHIEPROF. JEROME NYENKATHANK